Hamas tells mediators it is sticking to its original position on cease-fire

By Ahmed Asmar

ANKARA (AA) - The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said Monday that it informed mediators that it is sticking to the original proposal for a cease-fire it presented two weeks ago.

In a statement, Hamas said the Israeli response did not meet any of the demands of the Palestinian people and resistance which include a comprehensive cease-fire in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the enclave, the return of displaced Palestinians and a “real exchange of prisoners.”

It added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin "Netanyahu and his extremist government bear full responsibility for the failure of all negotiation efforts and obstructing reaching an agreement."

In the past week, an Israeli delegation visited Qatar twice to negotiate a possible prisoner swap deal with Hamas and a cease-fire in Gaza, but no breakthroughs have been reached so far.

On March 15, Hamas presented mediators from Qatar and Egypt with a three-phase plan for a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip and a hostage swap deal.

Israel believes there are 134 Israelis being held in Gaza, while Israel is holding not less than 9,100 Palestinians in its jails.

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Palestinian territory since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in which some 1,200 Israelis were killed.

More than 32,333 Palestinians have since been killed and over 74,694 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.